Making your website accessible is not only the right thing to do, but it will also help you reach a larger audience.
This blog post will discuss how you can make your website more accessible for people with disabilities. This includes ensuring all content is readable, including font size and color, ensuring all links are working and navigable, and providing an audio version of all website content for visually impaired people. By making your website accessible, you will be able to reach a larger audience and make a positive impact.
Table of Contents:
What is website accessibility, and why is it important?
Website accessibility is the inclusive practice of making websites usable by people with disabilities. This particular audience may use assistive technologies to access websites. Assistive technologies include screen readers, Braille displays, and alternative input devices.
Some common web accessibility issues include:
The inadequate color contrast between text and background;
Images that lack alternative text;
Links that are not clearly identified;
Navigation that is confusing or non-existent.
Making your website accessible is essential because it ensures that everyone can use and benefit from your site. It also helps you reach a larger audience and can improve your search engine optimization (SEO).
How can you make your website more accessible for people with disabilities?
There are many ways to make your website more accessible for people with disabilities.
Some common accessibility features include:
Alt text for images: Alternative text (alt-text) describes an image. It allows users unable to see the picture to understand what it represents.
UI elements color contrast: It is crucial to have adequate color contrast between text and background so that users who are colorblind or have low vision can read the text.
Clear and concise text: The text on your website should be easy to read and understand. It should be written at a level that is appropriate for your audience.
Logical navigation: Navigation should be easy to understand and use. Users should be able to find what they are looking for without difficulty.
Accessible forms: Forms should be easy to fill out and submit. All form fields should be clearly labeled.
Ability to resize font size: Users should be able to resize the font size on your website so that they can read the text.
Descriptive links: Links should be identified and described so that users know where they are going.
Audio versions of content: Audio versions of website content can be provided for visually impaired users.
Text transcripts or captions for videos: Transcripts or captions provide a text version of the audio content in a video. This allows deaf or hard-of-hearing users to understand the video.
Audio descriptions for videos: Audio descriptions are spoken narration describing the video's action and visual elements. This allows users who are blind or have low vision to follow along with the video.
Closed captions for videos: Closed captions are text versions of the audio content in a video. They can be turned on or off by the user.
Headings and labels: Headings and labels help users to navigate websites and understand the hierarchy of the content.
Many other accessibility features can be used to make your website more accessible. These are just a few of the most common.
Don’t hesitate to follow the rules set by the guidelines like the WCAG or the ADA guidelines and their three different levels of accessibility.
How can you test your website for accessibility compliance?
There are a number of ways to test your website for accessibility compliance:
Use an automated accessibility testing tool
Automated accessibility testing tools can scan your website and identify potential accessibility issues. Developers often use these tools to test websites during the development process.
You can use UIlicious, our automated testing tool to verify that your ARIA labels are set up properly by making our tool browse automatically your website using them. Indeed, our flexible and easy-to-use software is built to test user journeys. So why not use it to navigate your pages as a user with disabilities?
Try UIlicious for free by signup right now.
Some common automated accessibility testing tools include:
WAVE: WAVE is a free web-based tool that provides visual feedback on web pages to indicate potential accessibility issues.
AInspector Sidebar: AInspector Sidebar is a free Firefox extension that can be used to evaluate web pages for accessibility issues.
Site Improve Accessibility Checker: Site Improve Accessibility Checker is a paid tool that scans websites and provides detailed information on potential accessibility issues.
Sign up for UI-licious now
Manually test your website
You can also manually test your website for accessibility compliance. This involves testing all of the features by hand on your site to ensure that they are accessible.
Some common accessibility issues to look for when manually testing your website include:
Images: Are all images alt-texted? Do the alt-texts accurately describe the picture?
UI elements: Do all UI elements have adequate color contrast? Are all form fields clearly labeled?
Links: Are all links clearly identified and described? Do they go to the expected destination?
Navigation: Is the navigation easy to understand and use? Can users find what they are looking for easily?
Font size: Can users resize the font size on your website?
Videos: Do all videos have transcripts or captions? Are audio descriptions provided for videos?
What are the benefits of making your website accessible?
Making your website accessible has several benefits, including:
Increased reach: Making your website accessible will allow you to reach a larger audience, including people with disabilities.
Improved search engine optimization: Accessible websites are often easier for search engines to crawl and index. This can lead to improved search engine rankings.
Better user experience: Accessible websites provide a better experience for all users, including those with disabilities.
Compliance with laws and regulations: Some rules and regulations require websites to be accessible in many countries. Making your website accessible can help you to avoid penalties and fines.
Conclusion
Making your website accessible is essential for many reasons. It can help you to reach a larger audience, improve your search engine rankings, and provide a better experience for all users. There are several ways to test your website for accessibility compliance, including using automated tools and manually testing your site.
Making your website accessible is integral to creating a successful online presence.
If you want to test the accessibility and usability of your web app or website, don't hesitate to try UIlicious, our robust and accessible automated web testing tool. We offer free trials, so you can see how our easy-to-learn scripting language and scheduling system work.
Sign up for UI-licious now
Do you have any tips for making a website more accessible? Let us know on Twitter or Linkedin.
